El Salvador: Protocol to avoid school dropout by girls and adolescents who are pregnant or already mothers
In the context of the European EUROsociAL+ programme, the Gender Equality Unit, represented by Expertise France, worked with the El Salvador Ministry of Education on action to prepare and implement a model equality plan in public schools. This action included the preparation of a protocol to prevent school dropout by girls and adolescents who are pregnant or mothers. In this country which is still mainly rural and prohibits abortion (including in the event of rape or danger to the health of the mother or child), the figures are extremely high: the World Bank estimates the fertility rate of girls aged between 15 and 19 at 69 births per 1,000 girls.
A tool available to schools
It is in this context that a protocol was prepared, with support from an expert to set up the coordination and monitoring of girls and their families. It is a tool available to schools to help them support girls who are pregnant or already mothers. Its objective is to combat the social stigmatisation of these girls who are pregnant or mothers, provide them with psychosocial assistance, encourage the father to shoulder his responsibility if he is in the same age group, but also initiate criminal proceedings in the event of rape and help them build or rebuild a plan for their studies and lives.
This protocol also recommends creating discussion groups for adolescent girls, ensuring a follow-up for the families, respecting confidentiality, and setting up institutional coordination in schools and at local level with existing health services. It was presented in the cities of Santa Ana, San Salvador and San Miguel in early December.
🇸🇻🇪🇺 #EUROsociAL @europeaid @UEenElSalvador apoyan a @EducacionSV en prevención y asistencia del embarazo adolescente
— EUROsociAL (@EUROsociAL_) November 28, 2019
▶️ Esta semana socializamos protocolo de permanencia escolar en Santa Ana, San Salvador y San Miguel
✅ Coordina área de igualdad de género en @expertisefrance pic.twitter.com/ErDkDrKUv3
The preparation of this protocol is part of a broader line of action by the Gender Equality Unit of the EUROsociAL+ programme, which is supporting four countries – El Salvador, Uruguay, Mexico and Panama – on the issue of preventing adolescent pregnancies.
EUROsociAL+ is based on three components and aims to strengthen social cohesion in Latin America. It is implemented by a consortium led by FIIAPP (Spain), and composed of Expertise France, Istituto Italo Latino Americano (IILA - Italy) and the Secretaría de la Integración Social Centroamericana (Sisca). Expertise France is responsible for the implementation of the programme’s Gender Component.
More about the Gender Component of EUROsociAL+
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